“Bernanke repeats his testimony in front of the Senate and we’ll see if Friday’s payroll report changes his thoughts on the economic outlook and monetary policy,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.

Greek party leaders were set to meet with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on Tuesday in another effort to come to agreement on new cutbacks and other controversial austerity measures demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in return for a second bailout package. Read more about Greek debt talks.

Without the bailout money, Greece is seen as virtually certain to default on a large, mid-March debt repayment.

Investors are in no hurry to increase exposure to stocks as the Greek drama continues to unfold, said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT.

“There is considerably more debate about the likelihood of an outright Greek default,” Razaqzada said. “Although this is getting priced into the market, the assumption remains that any default will be contained and will not suck in other troubled countries. This complacent attitude may soon be tested.”

There’s little in the way of high-profile U.S. economic data set for release Tuesday, but investors are likely to pay close attention to Bernanke’s testimony before the Senate Budget Committee at 10 a.m. Eastern.

“Bernanke’s testimony to the Senate Budget Committee should not differ from his House testimony, though a more upbeat tone can be expected in the wake of the latest unemployment report” on Friday, wrote strategists at UBS. Bernanke last Thursday warned the House Budget Committee that the U.S. risks the possibility of a sudden fiscal crisis unless Washington comes to grips with the deficit.

European equities were mostly lower as investors eyed the situation in Greece. In deal news, Glencore International PLC (GLEN), the giant commodities trader, and mining juggernaut Xstrata PLC (XTA) agreed to a $90 billion merger. Read about the Glencore-Xstrata merger.

Emerson Electric Co.
EMR, -1.74%
on Tuesday reported a 23% decline in fiscal first-quarter earnings, as flooding in Thailand disrupted the supply chain and affected results in its process management and network power segments.

Other shares likely to be in focus include NCR Corp.
NCR, -1.86%
, which after Monday’s closing bell reported fourth-quarter earnings of 65 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $1.64 billion. Analysts had forecast earnings of 57 cents a share on $1.59 billion in revenue.

After finishing Friday at its highest level since May 2008 in the wake of a stronger-than-expected January jobs report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -1.24%
slipped 17.10 points on Monday to close at 12,845.13. The S&P 500
SPX, -1.54%
lost 0.57 point to end at 1,344.33 Monday, while the Nasdaq
COMP, -1.94%
lost 3.67 points to finish at 2,901.99.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.